WGSN hosted the first annual global fashion awards last night at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Thanks to our fashion fairies, we had the opportunity to attend the lavish fashion event.  The  big media buzz was of course  Alber Elbaz winning the ”Most Influential Womenswear Designer” award (Can’t believe Alex Wang did not?). While the highlight of the night for us  had to be  seeing Iris Apfel receiving the “Global Fashion Icon” award sporting a huge peacock pin,  feathers and lots of bangles.  Another wow moment was meeting Nicholas Kirkwood who won “Most Influential Footwear Designer.” We tweeted some  the winners live, but  on the next page you’ll get a glance into what we saw and the complete list.

I was tickled to see that news of Obama’s visit to China had inspired the folks there in many of the same ways his storybook rise captured the hearts of many Americans. The image here shows some of the t-shirts and other memorabilia that local shopkeepers started selling in advance of his arrival. But much like a NYPD clamp down on Chinatown shops selling fake Prada bags, the Chinese government fanned out and put an end to the sale of  t-shirts and other items holding up Barry as a modern-day version of Mao. Supposedly they were concerned Obama would be insulted by the comparison to the world’s most famous communist, but who knows. I don’t know nearly enough about Chinese politics/history to guess some of the hidden reasons. Meanwhile, now that the tees have been banned, there collectable status has just been raised four-fold (and yep, you can already find them on Ebay).

There was some men’s fashion featured in the Brooklyn Fashion Week[end] shots, but whatever, Samia likes looking at men’s fashion, but I just like looking at the men! And these two guys got me to thinking…what’s better, a man with rock-hard six pack abs or a guy who’s got a little paunch?  One is just HAWT and the other is just SWEET. I honestly would hate to choose! It’s like asking if I want an ice cream Sundae with sprinkles or whipped cream?? I want both dammit!

I’m catching up on stuff this week and just noticed that Tab of M.O.B. fame has her famous In-Out list up. It’s as juicy as ever. Here’s a sneak preview of one In-Out, but you gotta go over there to see who is in and who is out (entirely different from the in and out being acted out here by the adorable and hot Reg and Kim!)

I wanna see the Reggie Bush/Kim Kardashian sex tape, too!!!

Nike’s ACG line was looking good at the Outdoor Retailer conference in Salt Lake City this past weekend.

Nike ACG outerwear

The OR show was a ton of fun, much better than the stupid WSA or even Magic. I’m gonna post some other images so you can get a feel for it in a little bit.

Ta! Lois: LSakany@Gmail.com

In these slow, post-X-mas fashion days, there’s time for me to obsess on other things besides the latest and greatest Western designs. Watching a National Geographic show on various and sundry tribes, I got hooked last week on the Himba tribe, especially the women, who are known for their striking looks and beauty regime, which includes twice-daily application of a red ochre mixed with butter fat. Their jewerly, to put it mildly, is off the hinges:

One of the reason that the Himba and other tribes fascinate me is seeing what we share and are divergent on behaviorally. As for marriage, husbands are chosen for Himba women, but the catch is that they’re encouraged to have one or two boyfriends on the side. Nice! This site here has more info, images and even video if you find yourself as hypnotized as I was by their whole vibe.

More images on the other side. Photo credit is in the title of each image.

I spotted this Sally Hansen nail art pens (strangely not yet on the website) ad in Glamour yesterday. Nail art is one of my biggest obsessions so I would love to believe that I could create the art used in the illustration, but I know better. And I say that as someone who can do a pretty perfect manicure. Still, they might be worth a try just ‘cuz dealing with the language barrier at most nail salons is quite the difficult mountain to climb when it comes to collaborating on designs that are even slightly off the beaten path.

^^See the little pens there in the lower left. That’s what they look like. The catch is that they’re water-based so while you can remove mistakes, they have to be set with a final coat or you’ll have a big sloppy, mess on your hands.

Ever since spying her photo shoot for Allure, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with Scarlett Johansson. Yesterday she debuted her newly henna-colored locks at an appearance in Madrid in support of a film called "The Spirit."  

She looks almost other-worldly. And as for her hair color? At this stage in her game, there is no color that wouldn’t work for her.

Full shot of her in a ridiculously slick cocktail dress on the other side….

Props to SuperiorPics.com for the shots.

Thanks to new blogging buddy TooManyTights, I’ve learned that THE hot leggings these days in Australia (and probably other places, too!) are Sass & Bide’s rat leggings. They look sort of like regular old leggings on first examine, but there’s this whole rouching thing going on with the inseam, which is pretty hot.

Here’s a cropped picture of the leggings paired with some Nikes, click to the right to see a full shot…

Jus when I thought "le bootie" obesssion is over I find that a contest actually exists,I have to say that having male participants is totally legitimate :

"Brazil’s Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak (R) and France’s Saiba Bombote (L) pose after they won the final of the "Most Beautiful Bottom in the World" competition in Paris November 12, 2008. Some 45 finalists from 26 different countries took part in the competition to win a modelling contract and 15,000 euros ($18,769) prize money."

Is it me or is 18 grand kinda small for bearing your assets?

 More Via ChinaApparel